Ichthyosaurs: evidence for a recent global flood

Ichthyosaurs were marine reptiles that looked amazingly like dolphins, which, though resembling fish, are mammals. The name comes from the Greek ichthys, ‘fish’ and sauros, ‘lizard’. This clear case of shape similarity in fish, ichthyosaurs, and dolphins can’t be attributed to inheriting this shape from a common ancestor. Although evolutionists call this ‘convergent evolution’, a better explanation is common design.1

According to the evolutionary story, ichthyosaurs lived at about the same time as the dinosaurs. In particular, they appeared suddenly 250 Ma (million years ago)2 with no trace of non-ichthyosaur ancestry, and died out 90 Ma, before the last dinosaur (65 Ma).

The exquisite preservation of the fossils indicates rapid burial. If the ichthyosaur died giving birth, that in itself would not explain the fossilization.

Ichthyosaur fossils were first discovered by the Anning family in Lyme Regis on the southern coast of England in the early 19th century. A number of varieties have since been discovered, averaging about 2–4 m (6–13 feet) long. One average-sized ichthyosaur was called Ophthalmosaurus, meaning ‘eye lizard’, because of its enormous eyes—10 cm (4 inches) in diameter. But some ichthyosaurs were much larger, e.g. Shonisaurus (‘lizard from the Shoshone Mountains’ in Nevada) measured 15 metres (50 ft) long, and Shastasaurus (‘lizard from Mt Shasta’, California) was even more gigantic at 21m (70 ft) long.

There are no ichthyosaurs alive today. As air-breathers, they could not stay under water indefinitely, so would surely have been discovered if they were still alive. But their extinction is a mystery for evolutionists, since they seem very well adapted to marine life. A likely biblical explanation is that they were mostly or totally wiped out by Noah’s Flood, like other large marine reptiles such as pliosaurs, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs. After all, Noah took only land creatures on board the Ark. Even if some of these reptiles survived the Flood itself, the drastic temperature changes in the ocean may have been especially harmful to large marine reptiles because they were cold-blooded, unlike whales and dolphins.

Recently, palaeontologists uncovered an ichthyosaur known as a Chaohusaurus in China, preserved at the moment of giving birth to the second of triplets, ‘dated’ to 248 Ma.3,4

Because the specimen shows a baby inside its mother, another leaving her pelvis and a third nearby, the researchers speculated that the mother may have died during a difficult labour. However, the exquisite preservation of the fossils indicates rapid burial. If the ichthyosaur died giving birth, that in itself would not explain the fossilization. Furthermore, it would not explain the fossilization of the baby already born, or any connection to the birthing mother. Instead, these facts suggest rapid burial in massive mud flows, as would be expected during Noah’s Flood.

This fossil challenges evolutionary ideas about reptiles, and the aquatic reptiles in particular. Live birthing in reptiles (in which egg-laying is rather the ‘norm’) was already a problem for evolutionists, who say it “seems to have evolved more than a hundred times in history”. (Actually, even once defies evolutionary explanation, let alone 100 times!5)

According to one report, “Amazingly, not only the bones have been preserved but also some soft tissue on a number of the fossils.” Actually, it’s only ‘amazing’ because they were found in ‘lower Cretaceous’ rocks, ‘dated’ to about 130–140 Ma, but not so amazing if they were buried in the Flood about 4,500 years ago, as the evidence supports.

Surprisingly, the second of these ichthyosaur triplets is being born head-first (a characteristic of land animals), rather than tail-first as in most marine animals, such as dolphins and whales. This has confused evolutionary notions about where ichthyosaurian live-birthing originated. Lead author Ryosuke Motani of the University of California observed, “[So] live bearing did not evolve in water as scientists thought. Our assumption was wrong.” This entails the supposed evolutionary ancestors of ichthyosaurs being land creatures, so here we have yet another story of land creatures changing back into sea creatures.

However, there are other fossils that show the expected tail-first births in ichthyosaurs, as CMI speakers often show (see above), and which have featured in this magazine.6 This sort of tail-first birth, shared by dolphins, is a good design feature for aquatic air-breathing creatures. A head-first birth might lead to the baby trying to breathe under water, leading to drowning. The tail-first birth means that the head is last out of the birth canal, and it is ready to swim to the surface to breathe air. Thus the new fossil of a head-first birth may well have been pathological, perhaps the trauma of being buried causing premature birth from the wrong position.

Ichthyosaur graveyard with soft tissue

Meanwhile, in Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park, a huge fossil graveyard of almost 50 entire ichthyosaurs, comprising both adults (including pregnant females) and juveniles, has been found.7 The researchers said they were killed by turbidity currents, i.e. underwater mudflows—just what would be produced when “all the fountains of the great deep burst forth” (Genesis 7:11).

According to one report, “Amazingly, not only the bones have been preserved but also some soft tissue on a number of the fossils.”8 Actually, it’s only ‘amazing’ because they were found in ‘lower Cretaceous’ rocks, ‘dated’ to about 130–140 Ma, but not so amazing if they were buried in the Flood about 4,500 years ago (4.5 ka), as the evidence supports. And this is hardly the only example of soft tissue allegedly millions of years past its survive-by date. Over the last two decades, scientists have recovered soft tissue, proteins, and DNA from dinosaur bones.9 Further, just this year, scientists have found soft tissue, preserved down to electron-microscopic detail, in marine worms ‘dated’ to 551 Ma.10

Such finds should be causing a re-think about the reality of Noah’s Flood as well as the time-frame in which ichthyosaurs lived.

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References and notes

Geologists mainly use ka, Ma, and Ga (kilo-annum, mega-annum, giga-annum) to mean 1,000, a million, and a billion years ago, i.e. their date. For duration, e.g. ichthyosaurs allegedly lasted 140 million years, this would be 140 Myr (or 0.14 Gyr, etc.). Aubry, M.-P. et al., Terminology of geological time: Establishment of a community standard, Stratigraphy6(2):100–105, 2009. Return to text.

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Readers’ comments

John B.,United Kingdom, 17 November 2014

Hi,

I love this article about the icthyosaur, and first encountered it in Jonathan Sarfati’s book The Greatest Hoax. However,I have read, somewhere else, that this particular icthyosaur, although obviously pregnant, might not have been ‘giving’ birth, but due to the great pressures of sediments forming on top of her, forced the foetus from the mother. I think this is a more likely scenario, although the result was due to the tremendous forces liberated during the Great Flood. I wonder how much this fossil is worth in sterling?! Great article—again.

Jonathan Sarfati responds

Probably not though; that pic shows that the baby was almost born, with the tail-first position typical of dolphins today.

David B.,Australia, 17 November 2014

Just wondering about dolphins, whales and the like that need to stay in water. How did they survive the flood? Thanks

Jonathan Sarfati responds

Dolphins and whales can live happily in water, which is why Noah didn’t need to take sea creatures on board the Ark.

Israel S.,Philippines, 17 November 2014

It's a shame that even with this wonderful evidence, the staunchest evolutionists would instead prefer to make up some ludicrous explanation for why the baby came out head first, or imagine an isolated mudflow that killed those 50 icthyosaurs, rather than one big global event, or come up with ultimately futile attempts to explain how DNA can last for millions and millions of years by being saturated with iron or something.

But to those who keep an open mind, and whose eyes the Spirit chooses to open, this is some very compelling evidence for the true history of the Earth.